


Waiting

by shineefiction



Category: SHINee
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:19:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22350190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shineefiction/pseuds/shineefiction
Summary: Two roommates discover that there might be something deeper in store for them other than just friendship.
Relationships: Kim Jonghyun/Kim Kibum | Key
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	Waiting

“Hey,” Kibum says, taking his keys out of the lock and closing the door behind him. “You’re still up.”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Jonghyun says, not taking his nose out of the book he was pretending to read. The truth was, he had been staring at the same page for hours on end. He knew from experience that tossing and turning in bed the whole night, waiting for Kibum to return, did him more harm than good. It was better to just get up and do something productive, or - whatever this was. 

The young man smiles at his roommate, thankful that he had someone to talk to even at this hour. He takes his coat and shoes off and sits on the chair across from Jonghyun.

He looks up at his new companion and is floored. Kibum was absolutely gorgeous. He was wearing a soft black turtleneck that hugged him in all the right places. The simplicity of the black against his glass skin made him look like one of those flawless old-time movie stars. The young man also chose to give his contact lenses a rest today, donning large-framed glasses that made Jonghyun's heart dance around in his throat. It drew more attention to his clear eyes that lit up when he talked. Soft brown hair falls across his face, and he instinctively runs his hand through them. It sent the smell of his shampoo wafting across the room as Jonghyun gets a whiff of him.

The scent of Kibum was enough to make his hairs stand on end. It was like an electric current suddenly pulsed through his veins. It was hard to believe just how alive Kibum made him feel. The attraction he felt was uncanny. It was soft and searing at the same time, warm and terrifying. It utterly consumed him. It was too bad that he couldn’t bring himself to do anything about it.

“What are you reading?” Kibum asks, leaning into the chair and getting more comfortable.

“Uh,” the older man says, panicking at not being able to answer at once. He glances at the top of the page to jolt his memory. “Little Women. I wanted to read the book before I watched the movie.”

“Books are made into movies for a reason, Jjong,” Kibum says, crinkling his nose. “I don’t know if I’d enjoy that. Reading can be tedious sometimes.”

“Maybe you just haven’t found the book that can capture your attention,” the older man replies.

Jonghyun smiles weakly, hoping that the younger would just stand up and go away. He didn’t know how long he could pretend that he was okay when all he could think about was soft Kibum’s lips looked tonight. Most of all, he didn’t have the strength to talk about Kibum’s date – even though he was dying to know.

“Don’t you want to ask me how it went?”

“Not really,” the older says, fixing the glasses on the bridge of his nose. It surprised him how good he had become at lying.

Even if he said he didn’t want to hear it, Jonghyun really had no choice. It was late, and the older man was part of his captured audience. Besides, he didn’t even look tired or sleepy at all. He actually looked quite nice.

“Well, I’m going to tell you anyway. His name is Woohyun. We ate at that restaurant in the corner of 5th and Main? The one we always wanted to try? I’m glad we don’t have to waste our money in that dump because the food was not good AT ALL.”

He felt a sting in his heart when he learned that he went somewhere they wanted to with someone else. It didn’t matter that food wasn’t great. The older man always looked forward to silly ways of spending time with him.

“But whatever, like the food even mattered,” Kibum says, rolling his eyes. “I wasted my entire evening. Remind me never to go out with someone from architecture again.”

The older man suddenly perks up at the information. “That bad, huh?”

“The worst!” Kibum says, exasperated. “All he wanted to talk about was how the city was being ruined by all the new buildings, and he even went into this hour-long rant about parking buildings. Parking buildings, Jjong! I couldn’t wait to get home.”

“Really? That’s too bad. But, hey. Being on a bad date is better than spending a boring night alone back here.”

“But I wouldn’t be alone…” Kibum says. “You’d be with me.”

He knew it wasn’t about him, but his heart couldn’t tell the difference. His pulse quickens so suddenly that he was afraid that a blush was going to suddenly appear on his face.

“It’s so easy to talk to you,” the younger continues. There was a wistful look in his eyes as he spoke, like he was talking to someone else about his roommate rather than actually talking to Jonghyun himself. “Remember the last time? We talked until sunrise, right?”

Of course, he remembered.

_It was another boring day at the dorm with his cousin Minho. After they had finished all their classes and house chores, they really didn’t know what else to do. They weren’t the type to head out and mingle. Watching the rerun of last weekend’s soccer game was a bit boring, but at least they had something to do._

_The two of them had planned to go to this university together for all their lives. For as long as they can remember, it was the singular goal that they worked so diligently towards. But now that they were finally there, it felt weird. Jonghyun should be happy now that he had achieved part of his dreams, but he couldn’t shake the overwhelming feeling of loneliness. He felt like there was something sorely missing._

_Breaking the silence between them, the older man raises his voice to start a conversation that he had been wanting to have._

_“Cuz… How did you know you were in love? With Taemin, I mean. How did you know for sure that you loved him?”_

_A sweet smile immediately appeared on Minho’s face at the mention of Taemin’s name. They had been together for a while now, but it still felt like yesterday to them both._

_“That’s a good question,” Minho says, with a twinkle in his eye. “I don’t know if there’s an exact moment that I can talk about. I sort of just knew.”_

_“C’mon, man. I’m really asking. Help me out here.”_

_“Okay…” the younger man replies looking up at the ceiling, as if the cobwebs on the fan would give him powers of revelation. “If I had to pick one moment… I guess… Remember when he won that national debate thing and another university offered to give him a full ride if he transferred there? Just the thought of carrying on each day without him beside me… It drove me nuts, Cuz. I guess from then on, I knew. I wanted him in my life more than anything.”_

_“I see,” he replies, his eyes falling to his fidgeting fingers._

_He was afraid of this. What Minho had just described was a feeling that he knew all too well._

_“Why did you ask? Do you think you could be in love with Kibum?”_

_The older man takes one of the throw pillows and buries his face in it. “I don’t know,” he says, the sound of his response completely muffled. “Maybe.”_

_Ever since he showed up at their doorstep to answer the roommate want ad, the young man had turned his life upside-down. No one besides Kibum had this effect on him. The most annoying part about all this was the object of his affection didn’t even have to do anything for him to lose his mind. Every time he even thought about his face, Jonghyun’s hands started to sweat. Just a look from the young man made his skin tingle and set his heart on fire. He was completely under Kibum’s spell._

_He finally emerges from the throw pillow and talks to Minho properly._

_“I can’t stop thinking about the other night,” he says, annoyed that he was admitting this. “You and Taemin were away and we were by ourselves the whole time. We talked, Minho. All we did was talk. We talked about the politics and movies… About our childhood… About our dreams and stuff… We get along so well, and he’s so amazing and I just—AUUGH!”_

_Out of frustration, Jonghyun buries his face in the throw pillow one more time._

_“And?”_

_“That thing you were saying… I felt it too. Like I couldn’t go back to life without him anymore. Holy shit. Am I in love?”_

_Minho smiles broadly and ruffles Jonghyun’s hair. “I think you are, Cuz… I think you are.”_

“Then again,” Kibum says, his mood shifting. The young man’s gaze falls to the floor and he immediately feels bad about the failure of tonight’s date. “Maybe the problem is me, you know. Maybe the reason I can’t make it work with anyone is because there’s something wrong with me. My Eomma was right; maybe I have to make it through life on my own.”

Jonghyun stays silent, internally debating himself about the right thing to say.

“I guess I should leave you to your book,” the younger says, rising from his chair. “Thanks for listening. Good night, Jonghyun.”

“Good night.”

All he could do was watch as Kibum gathered his things and made his way to his room quietly. The older wanted to kick himself for not being able to comfort him at the time he needed it badly. But he quickly realizes that this was something he could fix.

“K-Kibum,” he says, standing to his feet and letting his book fall to the floor.

The younger turns around and gives him his complete attention.

“You don’t have to.”

His eyebrows shoot up, wondering what Jonghyun was talking about. “Huh?”

“Be alone, I mean,” he says, taking a few steps closer. “Your Eomma was wrong. You don’t have to be alone.”

The look in Jonghyun’s eyes startled the young man. All this time, he had felt like the older was holding something back from him. Kibum just chalked it up as a quirk in his personality, but it suddenly became clear why. The care that was oozing from Jonghyun’s gaze made his heart skip a beat, and he quickly felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time. All at once, he was acutely aware of every little thing about the older: the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, the way his lips were slightly twitching, the soft blush on his cheeks. He couldn’t believe that he had brushed it off before. There was definitely something there.

_“Ow!”_

_Jonghyun ran as fast as he could the minute he heard the loud crash coming from the kitchen. Kibum had been in there for about an hour already, taking it upon himself to rearrange the space. The older knew that there were cabinets filled to the brim and that Kibum would need some help, but he insisted on doing everything himself._

_Just as predicted, an avalanche of Tupperware containers fell on the poor man while he was trying to simply open a stubborn cabinet. Jonghyun came in to find him sprawled on the floor and with a scrape on his knee._

_The older’s heart dropped to his stomach when he saw Kibum. He knew that the younger couldn’t have gotten badly injured from what happened, but he still hated to see him in any sort of pain. Jonghyun drops to the ground and comes to Kibum’s rescue immediately._

_“Are you alright?”_

_Kibum was surprised at the look on Jonghyun’s face. It seemed like he was scared._

_“I’m fine,” he says, sitting himself up. “The containers tumbled out so fast. I tripped on one of them and…”_

_The younger points to his knee which, all things considered, really didn’t seem so bad. But you couldn’t convince Jonghyun otherwise. Without any hesitation, he immediately pulls on his shirt and wipes the small amount of blood that was dripping on the Kibum’s leg – all the while muttering to himself._

_“Jjong, I’m fine… Really—”_

_“Do you have any more scrapes on you? Let me see,” he says as he carefully inspects Kibums limbs for any signs of injury. The older reaches out and pushes the hair out of Kibum’s face as he worriedly scanned his flawless skin._

_The two had never been this close before. From this angle, Kibum found an appreciation for the older man’s good looks. It wasn’t that he never noticed how handsome Jonghyun was… But this was the first time that his looks had affected him._

_His heart beat quickened at the way his thin shirt fell on his chest, outlining every sturdy muscle. His lips were slightly pouted as he concentrated on making sure that Kibum was okay. For the first time, he realized just how attractive tattoos were on a man. Soon, the younger was breathing shallow breaths – especially when he looks up and catches his caretaker’s gaze._

_He searched Jonghyun’s brown eyes well and saw nothing but love and compassion._

_“I should get the first aid kit,” the older says, standing up abruptly. Kibum gets a hold of his shirt and yanks him down._

_“I’m fine, Jjong. It’s just a little scratch. If you really want to help me, you’ll pick up these Tupperware from the floor.”_

_The older looks at him for a moment, observing if Kibum was just being in one of his stubborn moods again. As soon as he was convinced otherwise, he wordlessly complies, picking the Tupperware up one by one._

_Kibum shakes his head, trying to rid himself of the thoughts that just ran over his entire being. Jonghyun was his friend. He couldn’t catch feelings; of course, he couldn’t. He was imagining things. There was definitely nothing there._

“Kibum... Maybe,” Jonghyun says, growing more and more confident as each second passed. “The reason why it’s never really worked out with anyone else is because it’s supposed to work out with me.”

“J-Jonghyun,” he replies, as he noticed his throat become dry and scratchy.

“Can I take you out tomorrow? To a better restaurant. I promise.”

Kibum smirks, tilting his head to the side. It was cute how he unsure of what he was supposed to do next.

“Just give it a chance,” Jonghyun says. “I’ve been waiting for you for such a long time.”

If his stomach wasn’t exploding with butterflies before, this did the trick. There was nothing wrong with him. A wonderful man thought that he was important enough to wait for.

The young man smiles, but it was a smile that he had never seen before. It was the smile that Kibum had reserved exclusively for people who had brought him true happiness.

“Okay, Jjong,” he says, turning his back to finish walking to his room. “See you in the morning.”


End file.
